OpenAI Codex — Install & Configure (via curl)

This README explains how to install a global Codex CLI/SDK and fetch its configuration from the cfgmgr/codex GitHub repository using curl. All global installs/updates use the explicit path /usr/bin/npm i -g -U as requested.

Note: This guide assumes your package is named openai-codex and that a config file exists in cfgmgr/codex. If your package name or config path differs, adjust the commands accordingly.

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Table of Contents

• Quick Start
• Prerequisites
• Install
• Configuration
• Environment Variables
• Usage
• Update
• Troubleshooting
• Uninstall
• Security Notes
• FAQ
• Support
• License
• Summary

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Quick Start

# 1) Verify prerequisites
node -v
curl --version

# 2) Install/upgrade globally (uses the full npm path)
sudo /usr/bin/npm i -g -U openai-codex

# 3) Create a config directory
mkdir -p "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/codex"

# 4) Pull config from GitHub (adjust file path if needed)
CONFIG_URL="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cfgmgr/codex/main/codex.config.json"
curl -fsSL "$CONFIG_URL" -o "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/codex/config.json"

# 5) Set your API key (if applicable)
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-...your-key..."

# 6) Verify installation (replace 'codex' with your CLI name if different)
codex --version || codex --help

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Prerequisites

• Node.js: Version 18+ recommended.
• npm: Comes with Node.js. This guide uses /usr/bin/npm explicitly.
• curl: Required for fetching configuration from GitHub.
• A Unix-like shell (macOS/Linux). Windows users can use WSL or PowerShell and adapt paths.

Install Node quickly:

• macOS: brew install node
• Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y nodejs npm
  For newer Node versions, consider NodeSource, Volta, or nvm.

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Install

1. Confirm where npm lives:

which npm
ls -l /usr/bin/npm || echo "/usr/bin/npm not found; adjust commands accordingly"

2. Install or upgrade the global package:

# Exact path and flags as requested
sudo /usr/bin/npm i -g -U openai-codex

3. Confirm the CLI/library is available:

which codex || echo "If no 'codex' on PATH, check your package's binary name or global npm bin path."
codex --help || true

If your package exposes a different CLI name, substitute it for codex in the examples.

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Configuration

This guide stores configuration under ~/.config/codex (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/codex if set). It pulls a JSON config file from the cfgmgr/codex repository using GitHub’s raw content endpoint.

1. Create the config directory:

CONFIG_DIR="${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/codex"
mkdir -p "$CONFIG_DIR"

2. Choose the raw config URL. Update the branch/path/file as needed:

CONFIG_URL="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cfgmgr/codex/main/codex.config.json"

3. Download the config:

curl -fsSL "$CONFIG_URL" -o "$CONFIG_DIR/config.json"
echo "Wrote config to: $CONFIG_DIR/config.json"

4. Sanity-check the config content:

head -n 20 "$CONFIG_DIR/config.json" || true
# If you have jq installed:
# jq . "$CONFIG_DIR/config.json"

5. Alternative formats/paths (examples; adjust as needed):

• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cfgmgr/codex/main/config/codex.yaml
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cfgmgr/codex/master/conf/codex.toml

If you use YAML/TOML, update the filename and the tool’s config path accordingly.

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Environment Variables

Most code-generation tools require an API key.

• Set your OpenAI API key:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-...your-key..."

• Optional variables (adjust per your tool’s docs):
  • CODEX_CONFIG_PATH: Absolute path to a specific config file
  • HTTP_PROXY / HTTPS_PROXY: Proxy support if required
  • NO_PROXY: Comma-separated list of hosts not to proxy
  • DEBUG=1: Enable verbose logging if supported

Persist environment variables by adding them to your shell profile (e.g., ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc).

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Usage

• CLI usage (if the package exposes codex):

codex --help
codex run --config "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/codex/config.json"

• Programmatic usage example:

mkdir codex-demo && cd codex-demo
npm init -y
/usr/bin/npm i -U openai-codex

# Example Node script (adjust import per the actual SDK)
cat > demo.js <<'JS'
async function main() {
  console.log("Codex demo starting...");
  // const { Codex } = require('openai-codex'); // or ESM import
  // const client = new Codex({ apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY });
  // const result = await client.generate({ prompt: "Hello, world!" });
  // console.log(result);
  console.log("Codex demo OK (placeholder).");
}
main().catch(err => { console.error(err); process.exit(1); });
JS

node demo.js

Replace imports and example calls with the API actually provided by your package.

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Update

• Upgrade the global package to the latest version:

sudo /usr/bin/npm i -g -U openai-codex

• Refresh your configuration from GitHub:

CONFIG_URL="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cfgmgr/codex/main/codex.config.json"
curl -fsSL "$CONFIG_URL" -o "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/codex/config.json"

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Troubleshooting

• “/usr/bin/npm: No such file or directory”
  • Your system’s npm may be elsewhere (e.g., /usr/local/bin/npm). Run which npm and either adjust the path or create a symlink.
• “Permission denied” during global install
  • Use sudo, or configure a user-level global prefix:
    npm config set prefix "$HOME/.npm-global" and add $HOME/.npm-global/bin to your PATH.
• CLI not found after install
  • Ensure the package exposes a binary and your global npm bin dir is on PATH. Check npm bin -g.
• 404 or error when fetching config
  • Verify repo, branch (e.g., main vs master), file path, and that your network/proxy allows GitHub access.
• Proxy issues
  • Set HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, and possibly NO_PROXY. Test with curl -v.
• Config format mismatch
  • Confirm your tool expects JSON vs YAML/TOML and point --config or env vars to the correct file.

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Uninstall

sudo /usr/bin/npm uninstall -g openai-codex
rm -f "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/codex/config.json"
rmdir "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/codex" 2>/dev/null || true

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Security Notes

• Never commit secrets (like OPENAI_API_KEY) to version control.
• Restrict permissions on your config directory if it contains sensitive values:

chmod 700 "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/codex"
chmod 600 "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/codex/config.json"

• Consider using a secrets manager or environment variable injection for CI/CD.

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FAQ

• “Is ‘OpenAI Codex’ deprecated?”
  The original Codex models are sunset. This README assumes you’re installing an npm package named openai-codex (or similar) that provides code-generation functionality. If your package uses different model names or APIs, follow its documentation.

• “Can I use a different config location?”
  Yes. Either set CODEX_CONFIG_PATH (if supported) or pass a --config flag to the CLI if it provides one.

• “How do I keep global installs reproducible?”
  Pin a version: sudo /usr/bin/npm i -g -U openai-codex@X.Y.Z.

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Support

• Issues with the npm package: open an issue in the package’s repository.
• Problems with configuration retrieval: verify the file path and branch in cfgmgr/codex, then open an issue there if needed.

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License

Include your project’s license information here (e.g., MIT). If you’re consuming third-party packages, follow their licenses accordingly.

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Summary

• Installed the global package using sudo /usr/bin/npm i -g -U openai-codex.
• Fetched configuration from cfgmgr/codex with curl and stored it under ~/.config/codex/config.json.
• Set environment variables, verified the CLI/library, and provided steps to update, troubleshoot, and uninstall.

Author

⛵ cfgmgr: Github ⛵
🤖 casjay: Github 🤖